socio

Korean through K-pop 101: Navigating Speech Formality

In my daily perusal of all things related to Korean entertainment, I recently chanced upon an article stating that the Korean Communications Standards Commission (KCSC), which monitors broadcasting in South Korea, reported complaints various and sundry regarding some South Korean radio broadcasts. Among them was the complaint that radio shows make use of too many English words for which there are Korean equivalents as well as the criticism that too many hosts utilize banmal with each other and with ordinary citizens who may call the show. The former is valid, but an unfortunate, if not inevitable, consequence of globalization; the latter is not unexpected, especially in a society like South Korea’s that relies heavily on age, seniority, and social position to construct sentences.

Or, I should say, it would be unexpected if one was in possession of a complete and total understanding of speech formality in the Korean language. Otherwise, such a complaint might make little to no sense.

As someone who’s been wrestling with Korean since 2008, I think I’ve finally gotten a solid handle on how speech formality functions both in communication and in a broader societal context, but many casual and even ardent K-pop fans may be a little (or a lot) confused on how the way one chooses to end one’s verbs in Korean reflects a whole plethora of qualities regarding interlocutors involved in conversation, their relationship, and their position relative to one another. Though I’m by no means an expert (full disclosure: I’m not Korean), here’s my breakdown of how you as a fan will encounter interplay between language and formality in the world of Korean entertainment.

Let’s get started.

The first (and perhaps most important) thing that one needs to understand is that the Korean language is inherently hierarchical — meaning that it automatically structures the social context of the interlocutor’s relationship by demanding that anyone who occupies a position of seniority be addressed using a different level of formality than would be used to address someone of equivalent or lower status. In other words, anyone who might be considered worthy of more respect — this ranges from someone who was simply born one or more years before you to teachers, bosses, grandparents, and the like — must be spoken to using a specific set of vocabulary and verb endings unless both interlocutors feel comfortable enough in spite of age/seniority differences to drop such formalities. A failure to use the proper level of formality when speaking with someone indicates a lack of respect and could seriously damage the prospects of the relationship. It is for this reason that one of the first questions Koreans ask each other when they first meet is, “How old are you?” Knowing someone’s age sets the tone for how each interlocutor should structure his or her speech; the older person may speak at a lower level of formality to the younger, but the younger must always use formal speech unless instructed to do otherwise.

Once you’ve got this in mind (and remember, English does not have any built-in mechanism for this sort of thing), you can tackle the fact that there exist multiple levels of formality — and which one speakers choose to use is highly context-dependent. Here are the basics:

The first level of formality would be the aforementioned banmal (반말), which loosely translates to “common speech” — the “ban” means “half” in Korean, and so it can also be understood as “half-speech.” This is the least formal of the levels of speech formality, and is most commonly used between people of the same age (which, in South Korea, means anyone who was born during the same lunar year as you were), close friends who may be a few years apart in age, siblings, parents, and children. In the world of Korean entertainment, you’d most likely encounter banmal in dramas or variety shows that feature members of the same idol group interacting with each other. Keep in mind that while the use of banmal most often indicates a close relationship between two people (remember the song that Jung Yong-hwa and Seohyun sang on We Got Married? The entire premise of the song was that Yong-hwa wished that Seohyun would feel comfortable enough with him to speak informally, for she spoke to him in careful formal speech for pretty much the entire time they were on the program), it can also be used to gravely insult someone to whom you do not wish to show proper respect. In many a drama and movie, a character conveys his/her disdain or disrespect for another person by speaking to them in banmal — but because it is incredibly difficult (if not outright impossible) for translations and subtitles to properly convey which level of speech is being used. Half of the hilarity of My Sassy Girl is that The Girl never once addresses Gyeon-woo in formal speech; she uses banmal even at their first meeting, which is incredibly taboo in South Korea (a good rule of thumb is that first interactions are always carried out in formal speech until ages have been exchanged and the interlocutors have a better idea of how the relationship should be linguistically structured), and she continues to use it despite the fact that Gyeon-woo is revealed to be older than her by more than a year.How can you spot banmal? Listen for “ya” at the end of sentences! Informally-constructed verb tenses very often end with the sound “ya (야).” The greeting of “annyoung “안녕” also indicates informality.

The second tier up in terms of speech formality would be standard formality for ordinary situations — called jondaetmal (존댓말 — the ‘t’ is silent). The “jondaet” part of this word means “to respect, to hold someone in esteem” — and that is exactly what this level of formality conveys. It is used in a variety of situations: between people who first meet each other (recall that speaking informally upon first meeting is probably one of the worst things you can do to insult a Korean person), between colleagues at a workplace, between individuals who do not know each other and may not ever come to know each other (ex: a woman leaves her purse on the subway and someone calls after her), between people who are not close friends or family, and between anyone whose age/seniority difference is significant enough to warrant a difference in respect. Most readers will be familiar with the terms “oppa,” “unni,” “sunbae,” and “hoobae” (older brother, older sister, senior, and junior, respectively); anyone who would be deserving of one of these titles (i.e. anyone who is older than you by more than one lunar year) should automatically be addressed in jondaetmal unless given permission to do otherwise. Interestingly, most kids use banmal with their parents, but wouldn’t dream of using it with aunts, uncles, and especially not grandparents.To spot jondaetmal while watching Korean television, listen for sentences that end in “se-yo (세요) or simply “yo (요).” While “annyoung” indicates informality, “annyounghaseyo (안녕하세요)” marks formal speech.

The next level up is what I personally call “super jondaetmal,” but actually just falls under the umbrella of jondaetmal when you are talking about or referring to it in Korean. The reason I make a distinction is because this type of jondaetmal is far less frequently used in ordinary conversation than is the other. Specifically, it is is used in very professional situations or situations where one speaker clearly deserves high respect (when addressing a company’s CEO or your boss, for example, or between businesspeople and clients), public announcements or announcements of any sort (all of the subway announcements in Seoul are composed in this form of jondaetmal), and news broadcasts. If you ever watch Korean news, all of the anchorwomen and anchormen’s speech will be this form of jondaetmal; similarly, if you’re a fan of any music program, then you’ve definitely heard this form of speech — because every MC, from Koo Hara to Tiffany, uses it when giving introductions. That some radio hosts failed to speak in this level of formality on their broadcasts was what the KCSC took issue with! For this level of formality, listen for sentences that end in “hamnida (합니다) or “seumnida (습니다). Due to the specificity of these endings, this level of formality may be the easiest to spot.

The final level that K-entertainment fans will encounter would be (my terminology) “jondaetmal on crack” — the highest form of formal speech which is only used to address emperors, empresses, and members of the royal family. This form of speech is no longer taught at Korean language academies because South Korea no longer has an operating royal family; it has essentially fallen into disuse and maintains a place in Korean society largely only because of the popularity of historical and period dramas. The verb endings are similar to those used for super jondaetmal, but not quite the same. I can’t give too many examples of how you can spot it (because I myself never learned it), but chances are high that if the drama you are watching has royalty in it, it’s being used. The honorific term “mama” is the Korean equivalent of “your highness,” so keep your ears open for that!

These are the four levels of speech formality that you’ll likely encounter as a K-entertainment fan. Hopefully you’ll be able to spot them (even if you don’t understand what’s being said), and this will help you to grasp the nature of the relationship between the people who are speaking. And if you’ve got something to add, leave us a comment!

Very informative article. I kinda got these ideas about language and formality from reading other articles and being a speaker of a language that has similar linguistic conventions (Thai has a particular vocabulary used only when talking about members of the royal family, for instance), banmal and jondaetmal didn’t really confuse me conceptually.

What surprises me is the use of terms like”hyung” or “noona”. We have similar terms in Thai (non-gender specific though) but because Korea uses lunar years, I found the issue very confused; add to that the idea of “fast birthdays” and my head started spinning.

For example, MBLAQ’s Lee Joon was born the year after Seungho and G.O, but because he was born early in the year, supposedly, if they’d been at school together, they would’ve been in the same grade. He calls both of them “hyung” however, and even after his fast birthday was discovered, they all continued with him calling them “hyung” even though G.O himself acknowledges he’s only about 100 days older! Confusing to me. If I was in the same grade as someone, I’d NEVER call them by an honorific. That would just be weird to me, but they insist on it, and they even insist on Mir calling Thunder hyung, despite them only being a few months apart. Yes, technically, they’re different years, but to me, the difference is soooo slight…in my own case, in Thailand, speaking Thai, I’ve had friends who are about a year younger or older, but we dropped the honorifics and no one was uncomfortable. It’s only when the difference is five years or more than “unni” or “oppa” (Thai equivalent) becomes mandatory or you’d be rude. Very interesting to me, as a non-Korean speaker, to see how that plays out in the language.

Clearlife

Thailand is a little difficult sometimes. Not to me but it can get confusing for forieners to understand the senior/junior relationship.

As a fellow Thai, have you ever had this case: Someone born in the same year as you but in one grade above you, and you call them unni or oppa (P’). We both know we’re born the same year but we still call each other P’ and Norng. Kinda funny how I have people a year older (even two years) and 2 years younger than me in my grade and we don’t even use honorifics.

I also don’t get the whole fast birthdays and lunar years.

http://www.facebook.com/kennedy.halstead.3 Kennedy Halstead

Oh yes, definitely had that problem. I also have this problem: I have a ‘nong’ who is actually 2 years older than me! He was in the grade below me because he entered school later. It still makes me laugh. What makes me laugh more is that he treats me like a P’ (I pay when we go out to eat, for example), and he shows me respect even though by the whole senior/junior thing, he should be the one doing all those things. Ahhh, the complexities of language and culture.

Clearlife

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That’s funny. I never had that but that is so… omg complex… so confusing. OY NGONG! I guess Thailand has that whole senior/junior thing with age but it becomes less important when you deal with school. Thailand is an odd country sometimes but I’ve lived here so long it’s normal. I feel Korea has it easier since they have a sunbae/hoobae separating with oppa/onni/noona/hyung thing to make it more clear.

Curious about one thing. I dunno if you have the answer for this, but in Korea, when you go visit a friend’s house and you meet say like their mother, what do we call the friend’s mother?
Because in Thailand we just call them ‘Khun Mae’ like she’s our mom.

http://www.facebook.com/kennedy.halstead.3 Kennedy Halstead

I’ve heard “ahjumma” for someone’s (like a friend’s mom). Think that’s the polite form, but I could be wrong.

zazuki_24

oh so that’s why Nam was calling Shone and Top with a P’ in Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Thanks!

Clearlife

Glad we could help. Also glad to know you like Thai Films hehehe.

If you have any other questions… don’t mind asking me. I an open for answers.

http://profiles.google.com/krstydlght kirsty delight

dramabeans also wrote about this. almost the same thing but a bit in drama context:

My cousins and I are all first generation Lao-Canadian, but we don’t all use our equivalents of unnie/hyung. For example, I used to call my older cousin (by 8 years) Natalie “unnie” (Lao equivalent), but as time went by, I slowly dropped the honorific and now I just call her Natalie. She’s not offended by this- she actually rather happy that I stopped calling her “unnie”.

However, I still call her older sister (she’s about 14 years older than me) “unnie”. The thing is that it’s not really out of politeness anymore (at first it was), it’s just out of habit now. I could probably just call her by her first name and she wouldn’t be offended.

Lao honorifics for uncles and aunts are extremely complicated (in my opinion) and I wouldn’t know what to call my aunts and uncles unless someone told me. In my experience, the Lao honorifics for uncles and aunts tend to be more strict if you aren’t very close to them. In my family, you tend to name your aunts/uncles with honorifics all the time, but there is no “formal speech” you follow.

I think it has to do with a mixture of our generation though, not just where in the world you are from. As you move down generations, some rules of speech won’t exist anymore, like how the highest form of Korean formal speech isn’t used anymore. Eventually, it will all get blurred together. and not only that, but how comfortable your family is about using honorifcs and such. I’ve found that my dad’s side of the family is much more laid back about honorifics, while I still find my younger cousin (by three years) on my mom’s side calling me “noona.”

haiitsvi

Very interesting article indeed! Languages have always fascinated me. I think most Asian languages have a hierarchical system so I’m not surprised by these levels of formalities but I can’t imagine having to switch back and forth between them when talking to people my age, younger, or older. And especially since in Korean it’s broken down by both age and gender for honorifics.

But on another note, could Exo’s MAMA be referring to that “jondaetmal on crack” honorific? I still don’t understand what that part of the song means lol.

http://profile.yahoo.com/YQ53WK5K4DPXQ5DIBKDELB6WPE Camille

Basically, EXO’s “MAMA” is their song to some royal princess/queen of the earth, asking why people in society right now behave in certain ways. They’re calling out to her because they want answers.

Baekhyun and Luhan’s first line in the K and M versions, when translated, means “MAMA please tell me why people change?”

intheshort

IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW.

I thought “MAMA” referred to their mothers…

Thanks for clarifying this.

http://twitter.com/sisiberlyn Sierra Bell

It doesn’t have to be a female, mama can also refer to a male.

Dana_SB

Could be – I wasn’t sure if it was them calling out to the queen of the earth (as Camille says) or to a mother figure. So much K-pop has English in it that it wouldn’t surprise me if it was just the English “mama,” either.

Ditu3ka

Thank you. It was very informative and useful article.

http://www.michelle-chin.com/ Michelle Chin

i think this is important for most korean fans!! according to my sis, this is what they teach in the first korean language class.

Judith Mopalia

Nicely presented, very clear. Thanks!

GermaineTelle

For a really well written and entertaining post on speech levels, with lots of examples from favourite k-dramas, check out